I find this quote by Abel Ferrara interesting in the way that it is stating that an edit is never finished to the film maker's vision. If a film maker attempted to make their edit to the perfection of the image in their head then an edit would never be finished. A film maker will only call an edit a wrap due to the restrictions in which they are given by the producer. If a film maker could be given an unlimited time limit on an edit then it would be an ongoing construction that would never see an end. A film maker can only attempt to make the edit as near to perfection as they think possible as they will never be happy that nothing else could be added to the film in order to improve it.
Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does. Walter Murch
This is a quote made by Walter Murch which i find particularly interesting as in my eyes it relates to the fact of technology as well as the art of editing. The technology that we now have in regard to editing software has made it so that anyone is able to install a piece of editing software and can easily use it. For example, the simple software that automatically comes with any PC that is movie maker sees editing at it's simplist form. You can easily import footage and make a short film in the matter of minutes. This software is used as a universal editing tool that is available to anyone who would want it. It can be seen as a simple task that anyone could perform and it is sometimes questioned on whether editing can be seen as an art form due to this. However, it is how this editing tool is used that defines editing between a hobby or an enjoyable task and the difference of seeing it as an art form. Anyone can make an edit, but it is the dedication and persistence that is put forward to an edit to make it as near to perfection as possible that defines an amateur from a artist.
One of my all time favourite films is The Uninvited which was released in 2009. This was a British remake of the original 2003 South Korean psychological horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. The main reason in why i like this film is the brilliant twist at the end of the film that would have never of been expected. The film starts with the main character Anna, who had been admitted to a mental hospital after the death of her mother in an accidental fire, preparing to leave the hospital to go home after being discharged. She returns home to find that the woman who was a nurse to her ill mother, has now moved into the home with her father after they had formed a relationship after the death of his wife. With moving back home, Anna is also reunited with her sister Alex. As the film goes on Anna and her sister Alex have the idea in their heads that the nurse is a murderer and was in fact the person behind their mother's death. In a plot to reveal the nurse as a murderer, the two sister's strive to seek out the truth about the nurse and her past. However in doing so, the estranged nurse attempts to murder the two sisters and they are left to fight for their lives after they are both drugged by the nurse. Anna awakens from the drugs to find a trail of blood from where she is standing. She follows the trail throughout the house until it leads her to an outside bin that she lifts and discovers the nurse's dead body. She is then approached by her sister Alex who states that she had killed the nurse and that it had to be done. However, when the father returns home and asks Anna what has she done, she states that her and her sister killed the nurse together. In response to this the father is in shock as he looks at Anna, who is covered in blood and holding a knife, and only Anna. It is then revealed by the father that her sister Alex was in fact killed in the same fire in which Anna's mother died in. As Anna is in shock from this she turns to look into the reflection from the window and see's that she is standing alone without her sister. Everything that she had done with her sister throughout the entirety of the film, she had in fact done by herself. As a viewer, you then think back to all of the scenes in which Anna and Alex were together on screen or when her sister Alex was interacting with other characters throughout the film. When watching through the film for a second time you realise that all though the character of Alex is shown and appears to interact with characters within the film, the characters within the film never actually interact with her back. I see that this is what makes the film one of my all time favourites as it sucks the audience into believing that the character of Alex is real. I see that one of the great reasons to why this film works so well is through the editing process of the film. For example, making sure that the shots are edited so that it still appears that the character of Alex is there, but when in fact in the film she isn't. Making sure that within the edit that the story could play both ways was of major importance for the entirety of the film.
I recently watched the Saw series, watching all of the films from Saw 1-7. Every time i watch this series there is something that i always pick up on and go "wow, that was amazing" and this is the transition shots within the film. There are numerous transitions that go from one scene but then merge smoothly and flawlessly into another. However, the amazing thing about these transitions is that the fact that each of the scenes that are being merged together are totally different locations. All though through the slick editing process it appears that going from one scene in one location to another scene in a completely different location is done all in one take. These transition shots can also be seen to be an aueturistic
element to the film, as i know that for myself, when i am watching any of the saw films these are the shots that i am constantly looking out for. I think that these shots represent a extremely well thought out idea that is extremely unique to the film.
